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Verizon-Sponsored Lecture Series Focuses on Ethics and Information Technology

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NEW YORK -- For the eighth consecutive year, Verizon will sponsor a lecture series on business ethics at Bentley College, Waltham, Mass. Presented by Bentley's Center for Business Ethics, the series runs from Feb 13-17.

Deborah G. Johnson, the Anne Shirley Carter Olsson Professor of Applied Ethics and chair, Department of Science, Technology and Society, at the University of Virginia, will speak as part of the Verizon Visiting Professorship in Business Ethics and Information Technology.

Begun in 1999, the lecture series attracts business leaders, experts in the academic world, students and the public. The lectures explore and analyze how ethical conduct affects all aspects of a company's operations.

"Information technology has afforded us - both businesses and individuals - new worlds of opportunities," said Gregory Miles, director of Verizon's Office of Ethics and Business Conduct. "But along with those advantages comes a new set of responsibilities that we all must be aware of and adhere to. The continuing Verizon Visiting Professorship at Bentley College promotes the importance of sound and ethical decision-making, policies and procedures by leadership and employees at all levels of business."

Professor Johnson's lecture, titled, "Corporate Excellence, Ethics and the Role of IT," will be held Feb. 13 and is free and open to the public. During the week, Professor Johnson will visit classrooms and spark discussions with students about general business ethics topics. She also will meet with college faculty members to develop ways to blend business ethics into their curriculum.

"Information technology plays such a critical role in the global economy, that a corporation's ability to compete in that economy is increasingly defined by its IT capabilities," said Mike Hoffman, executive director of the Center for Business Ethics (CBE) at Bentley College. "Operating in this extended, multinational and multicultural environment places companies under greater pressure than ever to manage their ethical responsibilities. Businesses need to be thinking as much about how IT can be instrumental in promoting ethically sensitive and responsible business cultures and the positive outcomes that can be generated."

The lecture series has continually stressed IT's substantial potential for achieving more effective communication of values and expectations, promoting greater transparency and accountability, as well as facilitating ethics training and oversight.

Verizon's continued support of the Visiting Professorship in Business Ethics and Information Technology enables the CBE to engage faculty, students and the business community in a debate with leading experts, which simultaneously advances learning and corporate best practices.

Bentley College is a business university renowned for its educational leadership in information technology.

Verizon was the first recipient of the Business Ethics Award from the Center for Business Ethics and is a sponsoring partner of The Ethics Officer Association.

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), a Dow 30 company, is a leader in delivering broadband and other communication innovations to wireline and wireless customers. Verizon operates America's most reliable wireless network, serving 51.3 million customers nationwide; one of the most expansive wholly-owned global IP networks; and one of the nation's premier wireline networks, serving home, business and wholesale customers. Based in New York, Verizon has a diverse workforce of approximately 250,000 and generates annual consolidated operating revenues of approximately $90 billion. For more information, visit www.verizon.com.